It's largely a professional conference, with planners and engineers sharing the state-of-the art practices for helping walkers and bikers get where they want to go. And it serves as a networking opportunity, in keeping with the theme, "Making Connections."

Dar Ward, executive director of the Bicycle Federation of Wisconsin, says she's particularly interested in the Traffic Justice Institute scheduled for Tuesday. The day-long session will focus on how the justice system and society deals with crashes and the legal aspects of pedestrian and bicyclist rights.

"Often-times there's sympathy for the motorist, and they don't prosecute those cases," Ward said.

The session is particularly timely, given the latest developments in the case of Jessica Bullen, who was killed by a motorist in Cottage Grove last June, and two crashes that killed cyclists in southeast Wisconsin last month.

Attending the entire conference is a pricey proposition, but daily sessions and some of the ancillary rides and walks should be attractive to the average cycling and pedestrian advocate.

Since it's football season, and people are out throwing the ball around, it's time to resurrect the insights of a seasoned coach who makes a living out of sharpening the arms of high school quarterbacks.

Here are some tips from Trickey:

Warm up the arm and shoulder first. One easy exercise: Bend over from the hips, hold the ball pointed down and rotate it in circles to loosen up the shoulder.

Hold the ball so only the baby and ring fingers are gripping the laces.

The middle finger should be on the white stripe of the ball and the thumb directly underneath it.

When the quarterback cocks his arm, some quarterbacks mistakenly hold the ball in the same direction it will be thrown. The ball should be held vertically at the top of the shoulder.

To throw the football properly, it should be thrown over the top of the shoulder, and after the ball leaves the hand, the thumb should be pointed down.

The first time I heard about the Anodyne Cycling Sprints, I envisioned the first lady of drag racing, Shirley Muldowney, piloting a flame-throwing Trek down Brady St., parachute and all.

Race director Dan Lawrence isn't promising anything quite that spectacular, but the one-block dashes certainly have the potential to be the most exciting contests in the first-ever Urban Playground events that will fill Brady St. on Saturday.

In four-person heats, racers will blast through the slightly downhill stretch from Humboldt Blvd. to Franklin Pl., starting at 11:30 a.m. Bikers should feel free to pack their own parachutes, but Lawrence plans to put up futons and other padding to prevent broken bones where possible. Spectators should watch for broken chains, cranks and quadriceps.

The sprints promise to be the best spectator event of the day, while the 5K trail run and 11K mountain bike ride may be better suited for participants. For those interested in a slower pace, a family walk will leave from the Tamarack Community School parking lot at 11 a.m.

Mike Eitel, the owner of the Nomad World Pub on Brady St., dreamed up the Urban Playground festival to show off the recreational assets of the neighborhood, including the marsupial bridge at Holton St. and the Brady St. bridge to the lakefront. As an added benefit, the proceeds will be donated to improve area parks and the county bike trails.

Eitel figures a handful of the participants will take the races seriously, this year. As the Urban Playground grows, the running and riding fields will probably grow in size and intensity.

Lawrence is expecting a mix of competitors in the sprints, as well. Given the Brady St. location, it's safe to assume some riders will be more focused on costume than power, but the testosterone will be flowing among the elite riders.

"This is a whole different kind of racing," says Lawrence, a junior who races on the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee Cycling Team. "Basically, it's a drag race on a bicycle."

When the shadows and the miles grow long on Sunday, 2,200 athletes struggling to complete the Ironman Wisconsin will dig deep for motivation.

Most will find it intrinsically, in their desire for personal accomplishment and success.

The cadets competing on the US Air Force Academy Triathlon Team will find it on another level, in their desire to honor and remember one of their own, a young man from Franklin whose spirit lives on in their effort.

Kyle Wagner was a 19-year-old first-year cadet at the academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., when he died suddenly in his room on May 4, 2002.

During his short time in the academy, the Franklin High School graduate made a powerful impression on his math instructor, Lt. Col. Freddie Rodriguez, a veteran triathlete who coaches the academy's collegiate team. It was an impression strong enough to compel Rodriguez to bring his squad to Madison for the first Ironman Wisconsin in 2002, and to dedicate the race to the young cadet.

"Kyle represented a lot of things; he was a young person who I thought would develop into a great officer," Rodriguez said in a phone interview last week. "He had great qualities, maturity and leadership."

That first year, Rodriguez and four cadets, two with Wisconsin ties, covered the 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2-mile run. And in the ensuing years, he has made the event a tradition, bringing a squad of competitors to "show their colors" in Wagner's home state.

Wagner's mother, Lynn Wagner Mehring, and his father, Dennis Mehring, host the cadet team, cheer for them and cherish what their athletic efforts represent.

"It couldn't be more heartwarming," said Lynn Wagner, who teaches in the Waterford School District. "I couldn't be more touched that someone who didn't know us was willing to dedicate that much energy and time in honor of our son. It reminds us of the impact Kyle had."

"The triathletes coming here is just one of the many ways that people are keeping his sprit alive. We're grateful for that."

Rodriguez will bring at least three cadets and a major to compete in this year's Ironman Wisconsin. They'll be wearing the Air Force blue, with Falcons on their chests and lighning bolts on their sides.

As he has done before each of the past four triathlon challenges, Rodriguez will tell them about Kyle and describe the drive and maturity he showed at a young age. His hope is that they will carry those words along the road to the finish line.

"The sport is pretty challenging," Rodriguez explained. "It's long and sometimes it can be a hot, ugly day. It allows us to reflect and recognize that we're out there for someone else, and that provides a real satisfying feeling."

Registration for the 111th Boston Marathon opened yesterday, and no doubt some of the expected 20,000 runners have clicked into the starting field already. That just leaves the little matter of qualifying.

Milwaukee's Lakefront Marathon has long been one of the favorites for area runners looking to post their Boston times, which helped the Badgerland Striders' event reach its capacity a few weeks ago. The relatively flat course can be fast, especially when the wind blows from the north.

Cool Running has a short item on the time change for the 2007 Boston race, which will send off the first wave at 10 a.m. , two hours ahead of the traditional noon start.

Lauren Jensen knows the thrill of standing on the podium at the Ironman Wisconsin triathlon in Madison, but after second-place finishes in 2004 and 2005 she wouldn't mind moving up a step.

That's not to say the 38-year-old mom from New Berlin is approaching Sunday's race with a win-at-all-costs mind set. In a phone interview earlier this week, the veteran competitor vowed to stick with a race plan she memorized during months of training, regardless of where that puts her in what promises to be a tough women's field.

The athletes Jensen coaches, and the rookies and novices among the 2,200 competitors, would be well-served following the same advice.

As she explained: "The Ironman is not like a shorter race where you feel the heat of the competition head to head. It's about zoning in on the fastest pace you can sustain for the whole day, without falling apart.

"You have to go to Ironman with a really solid plan, and you have to stick to that plan unless your body is telling you otherwise. It's a mistake to fall into other people's pacing."

Jensen's credentials make her a credible coach. Not only has she taken second in the last two Ironman Wisconsin events, but she won the 2004 USPro National Long Course Triathlon Championship and the 2003 US Pro Elite National Duathlon Championship. Her triathlon victory count tops 50.

That's a solid record for somone who wore a turtleneck in one of her first races, and suffered heat stroke as a result.

And her success has far exceeded her initial promise as an age group swimmer growing up in Glen Ellyn, Ill.

"I was one of those kids that always got the hardest worker trophy," Jensen said.

A triathlon pro for 10 years, the physical therapist is one of those female athletes who found herself improving after becoming a mom. Both of her national titles were won after she took a year off to have a baby, born in September 2001.

"I think maybe having a different goal has made me a better athlete all around," Jensen said. "I don't know what it was, but I came back physically and mentally stronger."

Jensen hedged when asked about her specific plan for Sunday's Ironman but was happy to share some advice for her fellow athletes:

"Don't have a time goal. Your ultimate goal is to finish. Realize there are going to be high points and low points all day long, but never give up."

"Really soak in the day. It's been a long year of training and exercise. Don't treat it like a job that has to be done."

As for her chances of winning, Jensen figures the home field advantage might be enough to push an underdog to victory.

"I literally know 100s of people out there," Jensen said. " I'll only go a minute or two between hearing people saying 'go Lauren, go Lauren.' I totally feed off that energy. It's a huge advantage to have that crowd on your side."

There was a time when you had to buy a stereo or washer-dryer to get a free bike in this area.

Students at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee can skip the cash outlay entirely, and pick up a free two-wheeler for use through the school year just by showing up at the UWM Union Outing Center this week. There is one small catch, in that they have to return the bike at the end of the year or they'll wind up with a $275 charge attached to their student account.

Gary Miller, a senior who coordinates the bike loan program, says he'll have 100 bicycles available for distribution, including 50 new rides purchased with $15,000 allocated by the UWM Student Association. The other 50 bikes are refurbished loaners, donated to the pedaling cause.

Miller will give out 20 bikes per day, from noon to 6 p.m., on a first-come first-served basis.

The Eastside Transportation Management Association started the bike loan program in 2003, and subsequently turned over the operation to the UWM group.

"The mission is to entice students to get hooked on biking, and hopefully, after the program, they'll be in the habit of biking everywhere," Miller said.

Mike McCluskey kicked a two-pack-a-day cigarette habit, completed an Ironman triathlon with about a year of training and finished an XTERRA triathlon while having a heart attack.

Yesterday, the 57-year-old finally found something he couldn't overcome: the rain and the wind that chilled him and 2,400 competitors in the Ironman Wisconsin. McCluskey packed it in after finishing the 112-mile bike segment, and this morning he had no regrets about that decision.

"I had a good swim and a good bike, then I got into the transition area and started peeling off all these wet clothes and I was shivering. Then I went outside to the Porta-Johns and when I opened that door I just couldn't go out there for another six hours.

"I can handle the cold, but it was the rain that was driving me nuts. I figured, hey, 'I've finished three of these, I don't need to do this one.'

"I don't feel bad about it to tell you the truth," McCluskey said. "I was cold just watching people, and if I had gone out on the run I would have been miserable and freezing cold. I used to work in this kind of weather; I didn't need it."

McCluskey won't be licking his wounds for long. In a few weeks, he'll head out to Lake Tahoe and the XTERRA national championships.

The temperature yesterday would have been just about perfect for an endurance event, but the rain started about 8:30 and just never stopped. Germans Markus Forster and Katja Schumacher handled the tough conditions and their competitors, taking the victories in the men's and women's fields.

Lauren Jensen, a professional and triathlon coach from New Berlin, put herself on the podium for a third straight year, taking third place.

Thomas Brunold was the top Wisconsin finisher on the men's side, taking 6th place overall.

In the days before the Ironman Wisconsin, local pro Lauren Jensen talked about the athletic success she's had after giving birth to a son back in 2001. She won both of her national championships, in the long course triathlon and the duathlon, after becoming a mother.

"I think maybe having a different goal has made me a better athlete all around," Jensen said, before taking third in the women's field on Sunday. "I don’t know that I can pinpoint what it was, but I came back physically and mentally stronger.”

Paula Radcliffe, already one of the greatest runners in history, is hoping for similar post-pregnancy results.

The world record holder in the marathon, 2:15:22, shares her experiences facing a whole new challenge in this piece published in the London Telegraph. It may be hard for most to identify with an athlete at Radcliffe's level, but her openness and British turn-of-a-phrase make it a good read.

And most female athletes probably will sympathise with her declaration: "The athlete in me doesn't like being pregnant."

The prospect of tackling a mountain bike race, with a spouse on a tandem, has always struck me as an enterprise fraught with peril.

The Appleton Post Crescent today features one couple that seems to avoid the pitfalls and mudholes. The couple, Brad and Renae Verstegen, will be racing this Saturday in the 40-mile event at the Chequamegon Fat Tire Festival.

In the interest of full disclosure, I've chased Brad to the finish line at the Telemark Resort for a number of years, and I can say his performance has improved greatly since he found a seat for his Daisy Bell.